


Of Puppies and Snow

by Crowgirl



Series: On the Strength of the Evidence [65]
Category: Grantchester (TV)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Not Beta Read, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash, Snow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2019-11-04
Packaged: 2021-01-23 05:02:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21314608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crowgirl/pseuds/Crowgirl
Summary: Sidney turns the puppy so he can stare Dickens in the face. ‘If you ever do that again, neither of us will survive.’
Relationships: Sidney Chambers/Geordie Keating
Series: On the Strength of the Evidence [65]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/511270
Comments: 3
Kudos: 22





	Of Puppies and Snow

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kivrin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kivrin/gifts).

Geordie hammers on the vicarage door the second time. He hadn’t been out of temper when he’d started but halfway along from the pub, the snow that had been threatening all day turned into a steady fall, settling damp on his shoulders and giving the wind a nasty raw edge. A drink and a game with Sidney had been meant as the bright light at the end of a long week and now it’s turned into _this,_ a trudge in the snow that will probably end him with wet shoes and no drink and no bright light and exactly _why_ Sidney has become that is something he knows he should probably think through and his desire to avoid doing just that, alone, in a corner in the pub was what sent him out on this trudge in the first place. 

He growls to himself and raises his hand to knock again but the door is opened before he can and he finds himself deeply wrongfooted by Sidney in civilian dress, looking somewhat wild-eyed. ‘I -- are you all right?’

‘I -- yes, yes, I’m fine, I -- do you want something?’ Sidney glances back over his shoulder as there’s a crash from the direction of the kitchen.

‘We were going to meet down the pub?’ Geordie mimes drinking. ‘Remember?’

‘Oh --’ Sidney bites back what Geordie’s willing to bet would have been a spectacular curse and closes his eyes for a minute, then opens them, raking one hand back through his hair. ‘Can you just -- come in?’ 

‘Er -- yes?’ Geordie hazards and steps into the hall as Sidney moves back. 

Sidney closes the door and stands against it for a minute, then takes a deep breath and moves to speak just as there’s another crash from the kitchen, this time accompanied by a torrent of barking. ‘Oh, hell--’

‘What on earth is going on, Sidney?’ Geordie trails behind as Sidney dives down the hall towards the kitchen. He pushes open the swinging door and finds Dickens, a towel in his mouth, merrily racing around the kitchen table while Mrs Maguire tries and fails to catch his collar. 

_‘Mr_ Chambers!’ Mrs Maguire stops, plants both hands on her hips, and glares at Sidney.

‘Yes, I _know,_ Mrs Maguire, and I’m very sorry and it won’t happen again--’ Sidney makes a wild grab that coincides with Dickens leaping in his direction and ends up with an armful of happily wriggling puppy. 

Geordie takes a look at Mrs Maguire’s expression and decides that silent retreat is his best option.

There’s another exchange, too muffled by the swinging door for Geordie to catch more than the odd word: ‘...dratted _dog...’_ ‘...snow...’ ‘...no excuse!’ and Sidney backs through the door, Dickens still in his arms and comes back down the hall.

'What’ve you been up to, eh?’ Geordie ruffles the puppy’s ears and gets an enthusiastic lick on the hand for his trouble. 

‘Turns out,’ Sidney says wearily, ‘he’s not much of a one for snow. When Mrs M thought she’d let him into the back garden, he just ducked back through my office door into the sitting room and --’ He turns the puppy so he can stare Dickens in the face. ‘If you ever do that again, neither of us will survive it.’ 

Dickens yips and makes to lick Sidney’s face.

‘How did you end up with a dog, anyway?’ Geordie asks as Sidney sighs and lets Dickens down onto the hall carpet. ‘If Mrs Maguire’s so set against him--’

‘It -- it’s a long story.’ Sidney goes down on one knee beside Dickens, scratching him around the collar and the puppy wriggles in pleasure; Sidney sighs again and looks up at Geordie. ‘I’m sorry for not being at the pub.’ He flicks at the collar of his shirt. ‘I meant to be.’

Geordie shrugs. ‘S’all right. You clearly had a good reason. D’you want to go down now?’

‘I can’t.’ Sidney looks back down at Dickens who barks cheerfully. ‘I’ve got to figure this out.’

‘Oh, that’s easy.’ Geordie holds out a hand. ‘Where’s his lead?’

‘Easy,’ Sidney repeats without moving, looking dubious. 

‘Let me guess,’ Geordie says, keeping his hand out. ‘You never had a dog before.’

‘Er -- well, no. Our aunt was allergic and--’

‘Right. So. Give me his lead and lets go.’ There’s a dull thud from the kitchen. ‘Give herself a chance to work out her bad temper on the carpet.’

Geordie kneels and gets the lead clipped to Dickens’s collar while Sidney pulls on coat, gloves, and scarf.

‘You’ll want a hat,’ Geordie says, one hand on the doorknob.

Sidney pulls a face, then rummages in the large, lidded basket set below the coat rack and comes out with a plain, black woollen hat he yanks down over his bright hair. 

‘Right.’ Geordie opens the door, aware that Sidney is standing close behind him waiting for the explosion, as it were, and takes a few steps forward. Dickens follows him confidently onto the doorstep and then hesitates, whining low in his throat. When Geordie looks back at him, he whimpers again and shifts from paw to paw as if he could find a better surface to stand on if he only tried hard enough.

‘None of that.’ Geordie makes his voice firm, the same tone he used with the children when they were too young to understand words. ‘Come on, now. You’ve got to get used to it like the rest of us.’ 

Dickens whines more loudly, but takes a hesitant step forward, then another, then trips himself coming down off the doorstep and ends up nose-first in the accumulating snow. Geordie winces internally but Dickens whuffles into the snow, then wriggles forward, then flips himself onto his back, tail wagging hard enough to create a tiny canine snow angel.

‘There, y’see?’ Geordie looks up at Sidney with a triumphant grin.

Sidney is standing on the doorstep, gloved hands in his pockets, shaking his head as he looks down at the writhing puppy who now springs onto his paws and starts joyfully chasing snowflakes, yanking Geordie a few steps forward before he braces himself. ‘How did you know?’

‘Know what?’

Sidney steps down off the doorstep and falls in step beside Geordie as Dickens does his level best to haul him down the drive. ‘How to get him out here.’ 

‘He just didn’t want to go alone, that’s all.’ Geordie digs in his pocket and manages to get one glove on, then switches the lead to that hand, and pulls out the other.

‘It never occurred to me that he hadn’t seen snow before,’ Sidney says ruefully. ‘I should have thought.’ 

Geordie gives up trying to get his remaining glove on one-handed and holds the lead out to Sidney. ‘Go on, then. It’s your company he wanted in the first place.’ Sidney looks at him thoughtfully and Geordie shakes the lead. ‘Go on, man, before my fingers freeze.’

Sidney takes the lead and they walk on a few more paces in silence, Dickens weaving at the full length of the lead before them down the otherwise deserted pavement. 

‘Thank you,’ Sidney says finally. 

‘For rescuing you from Mrs Maguire?’

‘For knowing what to do about Dickens.’ Sidney clears his throat. ‘I wouldn’t -- it wouldn’t have occurred to me that he wanted ...company.’

‘No, well.’ Geordie licks his lips, aware that they’re treading around the edge of something that isn’t talking about the dog. ‘It’s not something you think of, is it.’

‘You thought of it.’

‘Aye, well…’ Geordie shrugs. ‘You can get the first round, then.’

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired -- in December 2017, according to my email -- by [this](https://norton-addiction.tumblr.com/post/168192438741/jamesnortonblog-grantchester-advent-calendar) post sent me by the Lady Kivrin.


End file.
